i wasn't trying to generalize or anything. i think there's a manic depressive mythos, brought to use by virginia woolfe, ernest hemingway, etc. and then...schizophrenia. schizophrenia is much more loosely defined, treated by particularly noxious drugs, often involves poverty and social isolation...
so there you go. i was just 'picking your brains,' as they say (but not with an icepick).